Awesome, ten chapters... the end is coming. Yet another turn in the plot, but soon, we'll get to some real action... as for whether or not I started this back up because of you (yes, YOU)... well, not particularly, though you did remind me that I needed to get back to work on this. Oh, and excuse the grammar.
Chapter Ten - Lies and Answers
"Viper, where are you?! Answer me, Viper! I demand you answer me!" an Irish voice screamed through the radio on the helijet console, or at least, that's where it should have been. Instead, it lay in piles of rock and shredded metal, covered with a thin layer of sand. Nearby, the bleeding pilot struggled to reach it, dragging his broken legs behind him.
"Father Stryker," the pilot answered. "Madame Viper is missing..."
"Missing? Who is this?! What happened down there?"
"My name is Spears, pilot 431152... we were attacked... the jet is totaled..."
"Attacked?! By who?!"
"The mutant we were carrying..." Viper took the radio from Spears' hands. Though she was covered with a few cuts and her clothes were slightly torn, Viper seemed to be in fine condition.
"This is Viper. Juggernaut broke free of our mind control and brought the jet down. I'm fine, the pilots took most of the damage. One of them is dead, this one just seems to have a few broken limbs."
"Where is that creature now?!" Stryker demanded.
"Settle down, father. He is heading east. I've lost sight of him, he's very fast for a mutant his size. The sample of Lance Alvers' blood we collected survived the crash... one of the pilots gave his life protecting it."
"Admirable devotion. Get his name, we will honor his memory. We have your coordinates... Southern Mexico. I'll send a team to pick you up."
"Yes, thank you, father." Viper set the radio down and took a small metal box from the wreckage and opened it. "We don't have too many rations."
"There's enough in that box for three people to live off for five days," Spears explained.
"It's a shame there's only one of us here..." Viper took a pistol and shot the wounded Spears in the head. "If anyone asks, I'll say it was desert bandits."
Juggernaut had already covered several miles, his heavy, metal-clad feet no longer stepping on rock and sand, but progressively lusher grass. Juggernaut stayed clear of any larger cities and his pace remained constant. One Juggernaut began moving in one direction, no force on Earth could stop him. He only hoped that he could reach his destination before his captors could have a chance to brainwash him again.
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"Anything yet?" Magneto asked, entering the isolation chamber where Arkady Rossovich was held. Adamantium globes were fastened to his hands, designed to keep his carbonadium tendrils in check. Mastermind and Callisto stood with him, but by the look on their faces, Magneto could tell that there was no news.
"No memories have resurfaced," Mastermind explained. "I thought maybe a few hours of rest would help him regain any memory of his time with Stryker's forces, but everything seems the same as it was yesterday."
"I didn't kill anyone, did I?" Arkady asked in his thick Russian accent.
"No, not that we know of, anyway," Callisto reassured him. "There are several marks along his arm, Magneto. They must have drawn his blood, too."
"Juggernaut and Sabretooth must also have contributed their blood to this project," Magneto deduced. "It's possible Caliban is also directly involved."
"But what could this weapon be?" Mastermind asked. "Their X-Genes are being harnessed, I think we can be certain of that, but how could our own gene be used against us?"
"They might be developing some sort of virus," Callisto guessed. "Something that attacks the X-Gene directly... but then, why go through so much trouble? If they just needed X-Gene samples, they could've gotten them from anywhere."
"We're running out of time and we have no answers," Magneto said. "None of our sources have any leads."
"There is one memory I managed to find," Mastermind explained. "It seems to be the last memory Mr. Rossovich had before he fell under Hydra control. It's not much, though."
"What is it?"
"They drugged me, in Callisto's home," Arkady explained for himself. "I woke up in a room, everything was dark, but there was one light coming from a hole in the roof. There was a man there, I think a mutant, he spoke in two languages, one and then the other. He had his back to me, but then the one you call Caliban took me forward. The man turned to me and pressed his hands to my head, and there it ends."
"What did this man look like?"
"I can't remember..."
"The face is blurred," Mastermind told him. "He must have done that himself."
"Blurred face..." Callisto muttered to herself. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Caliban's true master," Magneto whispered. "What else was in this room? Was there anything of note?"
"Signs on the wall behind him, but I don't know what they meant," Arkady lamented.
"They looked like Egyptian hieroglyphics," Mastermind explained. "But I'm no expert. I'm not sure we know anyone who could decipher them."
"Dr. Marko could have, but he is already theirs," Magneto said. "We could find one of his colleagues. The University of Bayville may have an anthropologist who could translate them for us. Mastermind, take a mental snapshot of those markings."
"Right away." Mastermind's eyes glowed for a moment and he looked into Arkady's. "I have it memorized."
"Good. We have work to do."
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Evan looked out from behind a garbage dumpster behind a fast food restaurant. A young boy with mottled blue-green skin ran by, followed by several police officers. The young boy fell over a fallen stop sign and the police were all over him. Evan wanted to help him, but he knew that it was too late, and he had important work to do. It wasn't work risking it.
With the police distracted and cruelly firing, Evan ran past them into an alley, stopping at a red door. He knocked three times, then kicked twice, then paused, kicked again, and knocked a final time. The door immediately opened and as soon as he was inside, slammed shut.
"Welcome back," Colossus said.
"Thanks. Where's my aunt?"
"Downstairs, in her lounge, as always." Evan nodded and headed down there. Storm stood over a fallen Tabby, with Gambit nearby. There was a look of terror on Gambit's face, made all the more shocking by the fact that Evan had never seen Gambit afraid.
"On time, as always," Storm said to him sarcastically.
"What... is she...?"
"She's alive," Storm said. "Barely. Her infection is spreading and she's fallen into a coma. Gambit will be joining her soon. Hundreds of mutants across the city are suffering the same affliction, thousands across the state, millions across the nation. Nobody notices this because the media is controlled by Hydra and many mutants are being slaughtered in the streets before the infection can do anything to them."
"What can we do to help her?"
"Nothing. We don't know anything about this infection and given the current state of affairs, we're not going to get any help."
"It's over... it's over for me," Gambit panicked.
"Have some dignity," Storm scowled. "If the drugs didn't kill you, some mutant hunter would. Evan, what do you have for me?"
"The captured mutants have all been returned, except Kurt and Jubilee, like I said. Omega Red's been taken into custody, but they didn't find anything, at least not while I was there. Converse, Stalwart, Mystique Beast have all contributed to the project. Mastermind apparently didn't get any blood taken out of him while he was there. Omega Red, Sabretooth and Juggernaut were probably all part of it too. Kurt and Jubilee, no doubt. Forge, Mesmero and the X-Cutioner might be involved."
"So he's been confirmed as a mutant," Storm said.
"Actually... his identity was confirmed. His name was Caliban, but that's all I overheard."
"...Caliban?" Storm turned away. "He's alive then. This doesn't surprise me at all. Magneto, bastion of honesty... first Mastermind, now Caliban rises from his grave. He must've used their graves as an excuse to bury some old enemies. Who would dig for evidence in big, stately Autumn Hill? Only elitists like Magneto have the money to bury their friends or enemies there. What a joke."
"Autumn Hill? I thought I saw some suspicious people there on my way here," Evan revealed. "I didn't really think anything of it at the time."
"What?" Storm looked down at Tabby and the panicking Gambit. "Evan, get Colossus. We're going to pay our respects."
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Military police dotted every corner of the University of Bayville, watching carefully to see that students remained unharmed- what few students had decided to continue attending school, given the public situation- but especially keeping their eyes open for any mutant.
"Hello there," a young, bright-eyed blonde girl said to one of the officers as she walked towards one of the many buildings. Wrapped around her shoulders was the arm of a boy about her age, wearing a denim jacket and carrying several books, probably belonging to both of them.
"Good afternoon," the officer replied, allowing them to pass. Inside, the couple cornered a student who sat against a wall, nervously looking through his notes.
"Hey there," the brown-haired boy asked with a smile. "Could you tell us where Dr. Patronete's office is?"
"Patronete? Down the hall, last door, his name's on the window," the student told them. "I'm studying for his Asian Cultures exam in an hour. What class are you guys in?"
"Native American studies," the girl said.
"Oh, I didn't know they had that!"
"Yeah, it's a new course. Well, thanks!" She smiled at him before the couple went off to find Dr. Patronete.
"Let's see here," Dr. Patronete said to himself in his office, looking over what looked like an old journal. His office was decorated with treasures and curios from various cultures- dreamcatchers, jade statues, crusader shields, even a mounted katana on one of his walls, and all around his office were boxes with artifacts that he either hadn't gone over or hadn't found places for. In a giant picture frame behind him was a Muslim prayer rug, and around it were his frame credentials. His desk was covered with books, notebooks, pens, and random artifacts that struck his immediate interest. "...Demon bear spirit? That can't be right..." The couple knocked on his door. "Oh. Oh, come in, come in!"
"Dr. Patronete?" the boy asked.
"Yes, I am Dr. Patronete," he replied with a smile. Patronete himself was a portly man with thinning reddish-brown hair and a matching bear. His friendly eyes sat behind thick, black-rimmed glasses and he appeared to be in his mid-to-late forties. Like his room, he didn't dress to neatly, wearing a button-up shirt with his sleeves casually rolled back. "How may I help you?"
"We're here for some advice concerning some old text we found," the girl said, closing the door behind her. "This is a special case, and we needed an expert to help us out."
"Old text, you say? Well, I'd be happy to help you out, let me just set these folklore notes aside." Patronete put the old journal aside hurriedly, accidentally knocking over a portrait on his desk. The girl dashed forward to catch it. "Oh my, thank you!"
"Is this you?" the girl asked.
"Yes, before I became an old man," Patronete laughed. The portrait showed three men- one was Patronete, younger, slimmer and beardless, carrying a stack of books. The man in the center of the portrait looked a little older than Patronete and much more fit, black-haired, wearing no glasses or facial hair. The third man, on the side opposite to Patronete, was the largest of the three, very heavily built, but with a friendly expression on his face. There was some sort of stone temple in the background, built under a mountain. "That was... ah... about fifteen years ago, my colleagues and I were visiting the mortuary of Hatshepsut, commissioned by the British government to inspect it for any trace of evolutionary paths, some mutant investigation, I can freely say now. You see my friend Nathaniel, that's him in the middle, comes from Cambridge, so he was the one hired, but he wanted an anthropologist and an archaeologist to help him out, so that explains my presence and that of our good friend Cain, he's the bigger man there..."
"Cain Marko?" the boy asked, pretending he didn't already know that it was him.
"Yes, Dr. Cain Marko, from UCLA. Cain was a mutant himself, you see, but we knew that, even back then. In fact, his gene were dormant most of his life, but exposure to a Cyttorak gem triggered his mutation, which is why he's such a big guy. Strange thing about him, I haven't seen him lately... oh, I'm so sorry, I lost myself in my stories again," Patronete said, chuckling to himself. "So sorry. Now, about that old text you wanted me to look at?"
"We don't have it with us, actually," the boy said. His body waved unnaturally and he became an older, black-haired man. The girl with him shifted her body and became a blue-skinned, red-haired woman.
"Oh! Oh my!" Patronete said, startled. "What do you want with me?!"
"We're not here to hurt you," Mastermind explained. "I apologize for the deception, but it was the only way we could get past the large security forces outside."
"An... associate of ours has seen a set of Egyptian hieroglyphics," Mystique said. "Mastermind here can transfer the image into your mind for you to translate."
"I... I... I won't be associated with terrorists, mutant or human!" Patronete yelled, outraged.
"We are not terrorists. We just want answers, that's all. Once you've translated the text for us, we'll be out of your way."
"I don't know, this is so surprising..."
"Dr. Marko disappeared recently," Mystique reminded him. "We know where he is, and if we can translate this text, or at least tell where it's from, we might have an idea about where he is."
"Yes... Cain did disappear recently... alright. I'm ready." Mastermind placed his hand on top of Patronete's head and concentrated. "I... I... I see the markings... yes, I recognize these." Patronete took one of his notebooks and began copying down the symbols. Mystique looked on with interest. Patronete finished writing the symbols and Mastermind relaxed.
"What do they say?" Mystique asked impatiently.
"'Legend of pharaoh, the tomb is sealed. There is no mourning, the pharaoh yet lives.... ah... Menthu serves him, Anubis await him, Thoth records his words, Apophis obeys him. Pupil of Seth, master of all creation... Do not disturb the tomb, do not awake him. If his tomb is opened, the world will fall. The end of time, the end of men. A new era... the age of...' I can't translate this last symbol," Patronete pointed to an emblem depicting a beetle-like creature with the sun above it. "But I know it well. This is the emblem of En Sabah Nur; Nathaniel, Cain and I found his palace beneath the Sphinx, and a tomb of sorts in Tibet, of all places, though we couldn't get past the door."
"En Sabah Nur," Mystique whispered, "A pharaoh?"
"Yes, but not just any pharaoh... a mutant." Mystique and Mastermind both paid closer attention. "Nathaniel believed he may have been the first mutant... this was the evidence we had been sent to find so long ago, in fact. En Sabah Nur ruled roughly five thousand years ago in Giza... actually, this story might be a little long. Would you two care to sit down? I'll have someone bring us coffee."
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The X-Cutioner entered the large, dark room, alone, carrying a bowl of soup. The strange man lay in a fetal position on the stone pedestal, mumbling to himself. From the sound of his voice, he seemed to be speaking English- when speaking the other language, his voice was deeper.
"You're here," the man spoke. He made no movements and he kept his back turned to the X-Cutioner. "Do you have news?"
"I'm afraid not," the X-Cutioner replied. "I have brought food."
"Food, yes, good food... set it down there, I will eat it later." The X-Cutioner did as told and set down the bowl. "Are you happy, Caliban?"
"I am satisfied."
"But are you happy?" The man's usual twitch seemed to disappear. "I want you to be happy, Caliban. You live among humans, I know, but you won't have to much longer."
"The weapon my father is building... it is designed to destroy mutants."
"Yes, it is. Are you unhappy doing your father's bidding?"
"No," the X-Cutioner replied. "I live for him."
"Yet he treats you with such disrespect..."
"He hates me. He hates all mutants. Nothing I do will truly please him, so long as I continue to exist."
"Your time will come, Caliban. He will come to appreciate and respect you. For now, let him continue with the weapon and serve him. He will see you in a new light. Go. I'd like to be alone."
"Yes, of course." The X-Cutioner bowed and left the room, closing the door behind him.
"Alone... I would like to be alone..." the man's nervous manner seemed to reappear, and he began to rock back and forth on his side. "I can't be alone until this is over... but soon... alone... alone..."
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Several Hydra soldiers moved between the graves in the darkness at Autumn Hill Memorial Cemetery. Viper, rested and for the most part, healed after the accident with Juggernaut, led the troops. Though Viper was dressed much the same as she always was, her men all wore special helmets with vision-enhancing devices. They scanned each headstone carefully as they walked past.
"Fan out and cover the grounds," Viper commanded. "It won't be long before... cancel the search."
"What is it, Madame Viper?"
"We've found our buried treasure." One of the troops activated a light on his helmet and shone it one a large headstone. "'Charles Francis Xavier, beloved friend, your legacy lives on.' Magneto has a way with cheesy messages. Alright, men. Let's get this done quickly."
"Yes, ma'am." A Hydra soldier placed six small, circular boxes around the basic perimeter of the grave, then activated them via remote. A small, blue light on each box lit up and they began to sink into the ground. "This will take a few minutes."
"We might as well have brought Stryker, he's good at these things... does anybody else feel a chill?"
"I've had chills since you told me we were going to exhume a body," the troop replied.
"No, something is..." Viper paused when she noticed a snowflake, and within a few seconds, snow was falling at a regular rate. "It was seventy degrees just a few minutes ago..." The wind picked up, gaining unnatural speed and swirling snow and cold air around the cemetery. Something flew out from behind a tree and lodged itself in the Hydra troop's head. Viper looked down, holding her coat tightly around her, and noticed that it was a bony spike. "I should have guessed. Come out! I know you're here."
"YAARGH!" The Hydra troops began to fire as Colossus appeared through the thick snowstorm, but their bullets did nothing to slow his charge. He smashed into them and began throwing them aside with enough force to knock them out. Evan fired a hail of spikes at another group of soldiers, moving quickly through the storm and hiding behind headstones to avoid the confused bulletfire.
"Come quietly, Viper," Storm said, floating down from the sky. The snow flew in unnatural patterns around her, as if she was protected by an air bubble. "Let the dead rest."
"Ah, Storm, where have you been?" Viper asked. "We lost sight of you. Hiding from Hydra is an impressive feat, Ms. Monroe. Unfortunate that you've chosen to reveal yourself at such an inconvenient time."
"I don't know what you want with Xavier's body, but as long as I am here, he will stay where he is." Storm landed near Viper as Colossus and Evan closed in. Viper was surrounded and her men were all dead or incapacitated. "You're coming with us. I have a few questions I'd like answered."
"Ororo, it's been so long since you and I last met. You were still with the X-Men, were you not? You're an intelligent woman. By now you must have learned that I always have..." Viper took a remote control from his coat, "...A backup plan."
Colossus dropped to the ground, tackled from behind by the lion-like Sabretooth. Colossus turned over and pushed Sabretooth off, punching him in the shoulder. Kurt Wagner, dressed in the uniform of a Hydra soldier, appeared in front of Evan and performed a spinning kick to his head. Viper stepped aside as Jubilee pushed through the snowstorm, charging her hands with colorful, glowing energy.
"...Clever," Storm admitted as she flew to avoid Jubilee's explosive blasts. Jubilee continued launching her blasts at her in a spitfire fashion and Storm was only barely fast enough to avoid them. Colossus, meanwhile, lifted Sabretooth over his head and hurled him at an angel statue. Sabretooth flew threw it, but before the broken fragments could settle on the snow-covered ground, he was already on all fours and pounced back towards Colossus, kicking him against a tree and jumping on his chest.
Kurt teleported behind Evan and wrapped his fuzzy black tail around Evan's throat, pulling him down to the ground and pinning him with his body, strangling him with his tail.
As the six mutants fought, Viper returned to Xavier's grave. She took the remote that the fallen soldier had dropped and activated the devices that had drilled into the ground. The ground between the holes shifted slightly and began to rise. Dirt and snow fell off as a casket was raised by the six devices, each grappled to the perimeter of the casket's bottom side and generating a field that allowed it to hover. Quickly, Viper opened the casket.
Charles Xavier's body was still recognizable. His clothes were intact, if dusty, and his body retained its skin and muscle, though it had withered considerably and Xavier's face was twisted and stretched into a bizarre expression of dignified sadness.
"Stop Viper!" Storm commanded. Quickly, Viper took Xavier's hand and broke off a single finger- his index finger. She placed it in a small plastic case and pushed it into her coat. Colossus charged at her, only to lose his footing and trip just feet away from her. He looked up to see that Viper was holding something long and black, or rather, it was holding her, as it seemed to lift her away. A helicopter hovered above the growing blizzard and Viper was soon safely inside. "No, not this time!" The clouds above them began to glow in various places and a sizzling, bright bolt of lighting stormed down from the sky.
"Be careful!" Colossus called. A blast from Jubilee nailed Storm in the back and destroyed her concentration. The lightning bolt struck a nearby tree, startling Kurt and forcing him to release Evan from his hold. Evan sat up quickly, gasping for air. On the ground, Storm looked up to see the helicopter flying away.
"She got away!" She yelled, outraged. "Evan, Piotr, we need to follow that helicopter and stop it."
"We have our orders," Sabretooth said, standing tall despite the increasingly powerful winds. "You will come with us, Storm."
"You have it? Good," Stryker said to Viper over radio. Viper sighed in relief and looked at the box containing Xavier's finger. "The Professor says Xavier will take longer to process than the others, but we managed."
"Yes, I had to escape quickly. I left our new agents fighting Storm. I've instructed them to make sure she lives."
"What? Viper, we don't need Storm."
"What do you mean? I thought Storm was the only other one we needed."
"No, no, it's not the windrider," Stryker explained. "Tell them to withdraw. Her devilry is powerful, Viper, we can't lose our tools just yet."
"Then if not Storm, who else do we need?"
"I assure you, the last sample will not be difficult to obtain," The Professor said to her via radio. "We can consider the task complete, in fact."
"Then we have all of the samples we need," Viper grinned. "Good. I'll bring this over and you can begin your work, Professor. Then I can stop toying with these mutants and return to my duties. I am the acting commander of this country, after all."
"They're gone?" Evan asked. Colossus and Storm stood back up, but they enemies were gone. Storm waved her hand and the snowstorm ceased. There was no sign of any of them, not even footprints in the snow.
"They didn't take me..." Storm realized. "But they wanted Xavier. I hate to do this, but I'd better tell Magneto about this."
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Pyro idly played with a spare lighter in the hallway. Scott sat with him, staring at the ceiling. Several minutes had passed since either had said anything, and several hours had passed since anything of note had happened.
"So... seen any good movies lately?"
"Shut up, Pyro."
"Lighten up a little, Darkholme, I'm bored. Your mother and what's-his-name have been up in that meeting room with Magneto for hours."
"Yeah, and Wanda's with them," Scott lamented.
"Out of my way!" Beast yelled as he strode by. Scott and Pyro exchanged confused glances, then returned to their original positions. Moments later, Freddy and Jean ran by.
"Pyro, c'mon, we've got a situation with the younger students," Freddy stopped briefly enough to say.
"Well, why not?" Pyro shrugged, pocketed his lighter and ran after them. He turned and ran backwards. "Darkholme, you coming?"
"Eh," Scott replied, still seated.
"Suit yourself then." Pyro, Freddy and Jean arrived at the boys' dorms moments later. Beast had already arrived and Pietro stood over the bed of Jamie Madrox, who was covered in black-purple boils and lying motionless. Nearby, Dorian looked on fearfully, tears running out of his eyes.
"What happened?" Jean asked.
"We don't know," Pietro replied. "Dorian sent word to us, Magneto should be here soon."
"He's still breathing, and he has a pulse," Beast said. "But I've never seen growths like these before."
"It's legacy," Pyro said. "Scott's bro was shooting himself up with the stuff, I dunno how Jamie got ahold of it." Pyro looked over Jamie. "Never seen it go like this before."
"So what the hell are we supposed to do?"
"Nothing," Evan said, walking in. "There's no cure for it."
"And how do you know that?!" Jean asked.
"Because my aunt sold it. Two of her enforcers are infected just like Jamie. They've slipped into comas, but they're still alive. I don't know if it will pass, or if it'll kill them, or what."
"There has to be something!" Pyro yelled at him. "We're not letting any of these kids die!"
"I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do."
"We can at least get him to the infirmary, we might be able to get him to a more stable condition," Beast said. He carried Jamie in his arms and ran out of the room. Magneto arrived after Beast had left.
"Yeah, he already took him," Pietro said to him. "He'll be fine, I'm sure." Evan cocked an eyebrow.
"Alright. In the meantime, I want the team in the meeting hall. We have some answers."
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Magneto's meeting room was, not surprisingly, rather full. Pietro, Wanda, Freddy, Jean, Beast, Pyro, Mystique, Storm, Warren, Callisto, Scott, Toad, Evan and Colossus all stood around. Magneto took a moment to clear his throat.
"Sorry we're late," Mastermind said, entering with Danielle, Kate and Robert.
"Yes, good of you to join us," Magneto grumbled. "I don't have to put up with this. Why is Danielle Moonstar here? I had you and Dorian and a mission because we were lacking in members. As you can see, the full team has been returned."
"She's trustworthy," Wanda said. "I've asked her to come."
"Okay, now why are Kate Pryde and Robert Drake here?"
"Yeah, who's watching the kids in the dorms?" Pietro asked.
"We need to settle this," Wanda said, taking initiative. "Kate, Robert, go down to the dorms and keep watch. Toad, Piotr, help them out."
"Awwww..." Toad whined. The four of them left the meeting room, sure that they would be briefed.
"I think Scott and Evan should do guard duty as well," Pietro suggested.
"No, I think they should hear this," Wanda insisted.
"Enough," Magneto said. "I'll let this crowd stay here, but I will not repeat myself, so pay close attention. The agents that attacked Storm last night were after a DNA sample from Charles Xavier to be added to the blood samples many of you unwillingly gave for this mysterious weapon that Stryker is building. Ororo's team managed to subdue or kill several of these agents, and those that weren't killed took cyanide pills to avoid capture, but one of them dropped his in the snow. Mastermind has finished interrogating him. What have you found?"
"The soldiers know as much as we do about the weapon itself. The central Hydra base is located in Washington, D.C., for the time being, but there is another base in London, where Stryker has been spending his time recently. If we can infiltrate this base, we will find all our answers."
"How can you be so sure?" Storm asked, skeptical.
"Because the true master dwells there. Viper answers to Stryker and Stryker answers to the man at the top... unfortunately, the soldier I interrogated had never actually been inside this master's chamber, but he knew where it was. We still don't know who this man is, what he's capable of, or even if he's a human or a mutant."
"What about Kurt?" Mystique asked.
"I'm sure we will find him there, and if not, we will find somebody who knows."
"Some of us will have to stay behind to watch the younger students," Magneto said. "Do I have any volunteers?" The room was silent. "Then I will volunteer someone. Callisto, Warren, you will stay here. Pryde and Drake will aid you."
"What? We have as much a right to go as anyone here!" Warren said.
"I want to help find Jubilee!" Callisto protested.
"You will both be a danger to the mission," Magneto said. "You have the will, but you are both out of practice. I assure you that Jubilee will be found, I will see to it. The rest of you will be divided into teams. Based on Mastermind's account of the readouts, we will enter the base from different sides."
"Right," Wanda said. "Who are the team leaders?"
"I've decided that you, Mystique and Stalwart will be the team leaders. Divide the others among yourselves."
"I'm leading my own team," Storm announced.
"If you want your own team, you'll only have two men to work with, because we will not be giving you any additional help."
"Alright, fine," Storm conceded.
"You have one hour to choose your teams and prepare. Be ready." Magneto left the room, followed by Pietro. As they walked down the hall, Pietro spoke up.
"Why didn't you choose me to lead one of the teams?"
"Because you're not ready. You spend more time running the systems here than training. Nobody can keep the Institute running as well as you, and those who are staying behind will depend on you to lead them in my absence."
"So why don't you have your own team?"
"I am taking a different approach. I alone am the fourth team. Alone, I don't have to worry about the safety of my team. Stryker and his new master will be no match for me at my full strength."
"Right." They walked in silence. "You know, once the Danger Room is up and running again, I'm going to sign up for more training sessions."
"Good. With practice, you will be as fit a leader as your sister."
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Juggernaut pushed aside two thick trees as he continued his path east. The thick jungle of the Yucatan Peninsula did little to hinder him, despite being so thick in some spots that he could not even see the sky. A long, heavy snake fell onto his domed helmet as he pushed another tree. He casually brushed it off before pushing two more trees. Juggernaut stopped, shielding his eyes from the fierce sun and observing his destination- an ancient Mayan pyramid, built with many steps on each of its four sides. Juggernaut recognized the pyramid and its significance, including its position in relation to the stars. He had visited this pyramid years before, with his colleagues. He had fond memories of the place and the many things he found inside. It was because of this that his goal brought sorrow to him, but it was also for this reason that he knew he had to do it.
Wasting no time, Juggernaut ran to the pyramid, pounding his massive fists into the stone stones, smashing and breaking them away. It was only a few minutes before he had broken through the outer layer and revealed the pyramid's true form, a polished metal shining in the sun's light, made of an alloy he could not identify. As more of the outer stone was broken away, markings, glowing blue, appeared, but they weren't in any language to Dr. Cain Marko was familiar with, almost as if they had come from a civilization unrelated to any on Earth. Soon, the polished metal began to dent and break. The characters continued to glow, glowing brighter with each impact of Juggernaut's fist, as if the pyramid was alive and had no other way of expressing its anger.
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The man on the stone platform yelled in outrage, in his deeper voice, screaming in his second tongue. Immediately, Hydra guards rushed in to see what had happened.
"Sir! What's the matter?"
"Leave me... LEAVE ME!" Frightened, the guards bowed and retreated. "Cain... you shouldn't have done this... you should have left the pyramid alone... this is treason, Cain..." He spoke in his second voice. "Yes... but it's too late for that now... deal with things one at a time... the mutant samples are complete... then we worry about the pyramids..."
He bellowed a command in his second voice.
"He is ours to do with what we will... he could repair them... maybe, even improve them..." The man said nothing for a few moments. Father Stryker and Madame Viper entered the room moments later, accompanied by the X-Cutioner and several green guards.
"You summoned us?" Viper asked.
"The pyramids... Juggernaut has destroyed the first... go there, and have Forge study the wreckage... then, bring him to me..."
"Yes, sir," Viper said. She bowed, along with the others, and exited the room. Outside of the large, poorly-lit room was a hallway made of medium-gray metal without shine. Four guards were placed outside the chamber, each bearing a different emblem on their shoulders and on their helmet and carrying large scimitars instead of rifles.
"The weapon is coming along well," Viper said to Stryker. "I do not understand what he wants with the pyramids."
"I don't get him either," Stryker admitted. "But we would be lost without him. His mind may be twisted, but his heart is in the right place. He is a firm believer in my cause."
"I will have Gauntlet take Forge and Mesmero to the pyramid. I've had enough of wasting my own time for these little excursions."
"Yes, stay here and oversee that the weapon is completed. I have somewhere to be at the moment."
"Very well," Viper replied, irritated. Stryker and the X-Cutioner took a different path down the hall and disappeared.
Wow. Anyway, those of you who read Age of Apocalypse: Alternate Reality will remember that chapter 11 was the bloodiest one of all (it may as well be known as the "EVERYONE DIES" chapter)... well, the same's going to be applied to this story. Chapter 11 will have action and violence, plus, a few things will at last be answered: what is the weapon, and why does it need mutant blood? Why does it need to be those specific mutants? Will those affected by Legacy die? And of course... who is the crazy man who's in charge of the Pure Blood Movement? It's all coming up!